DUAL Poetry Podcast

Today’s poem is Fertile Truce the title poem from Legna Rodríguez Iglesias’ 2012 collection. It was translated for the PTC in 2019 by the award-winning poet Abigail Parry and the Havana based writer Serafina Vick.

The poem refers to the national flower of Cuba, the Mariposa or white ginger lily. Also in this poem, you will hear the use of the English term 'grandfather' in place of the Spanish 'Abuelo' 
This plays on the idea of foreign intrusion and interference:
a vexed issue for Cuba’s revolutionary generation.

You can buy our collection of Legna Rodríguez Iglesias' work from our online store: https://www.poetrytranslation.org/shop/a-little-body-are-many-parts

The Dual Poetry Podcast is one poem in two languages from the Poetry Translation Centre. Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast on iTunes or wherever you download.

 

Direct download: Fertile_Truce_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am UTC

here is a constant struggle in Turkey between being oneself and having to fit into a mould – a mould shaped by nationalistic values and imposed by a majority – which makes daily life extremely difficult for people who come from one of the many minority communities. This state of struggle and in-betweenness is described in the poem ‘Uniform’ – from school days dressed in ‘mouse grey’ skirts all the way to adulthood.

The human suffering, the yearning for love and hope, portrayed in Karakaşlı’s poems is the daily reality for people in many parts of the world. Beyond specific historical and cultural contexts, Karin Karakaşlı’s poetry is a beautiful expression of the human soul: with all its darkness and light, including all the many shades of emotions and thoughts in between, seeking to build a common language through poetry.

Canan Marasligil, from her introduction to Karin's Chapbook History-Geography

The Dual Poetry Podcast is one poem in two languages from the Poetry Translation Centre. Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast on iTunes or wherever you download.

Direct download: uniform02.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am UTC

This week’s poem is 'Orphan' by Asha Lul Mohamad Yusuf from Somalia/Somaliland. The poem is read first in English translation by Clare Pollard and then in Somali by Asha.

Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf is a powerful woman poet in a literary tradition still largely dominated by men. She is a master of the major Somali poetic forms, including the prestigious gabay which presents compelling arguments with mesmerising feats of alliteration.

The Dual Poetry Podcast is one poem in two languages from the Poetry Translation Centre. Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast on iTunes or wherever you download.

Direct download: PTC_Caasha_Orphan_4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:15am UTC

Translated by Nukhbah Langah and Lavinia Greenlaw.

This week’s poem is by Noshi Gillani from Pakistan. The poem is read first in English translation by Lavinia Greenlaw and then in Urdu by novelist Kamila Shamsie.

The candour and frankness of Gillani's highly-charged poems is unusual for a woman writing in Urdu and she has gained a committed international audience, performing regularly at large poetry gatherings in Pakistan, Australia, Canada and the US. Unknown outside the Pakistani community, the translations here mark her introduction to an English-speaking audience.

The Dual Poetry Podcast is one poem in two languages from the Poetry Translation Centre. Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast on iTunes or wherever you download.

Direct download: PP_Noshi_To_Catch_Butterflies_4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:59am UTC